Automatic foul line keeper



5 1 J. A. MacLAGAN EI'AI. 2,425,257 AUTOMATIC FOUL Ling KEEPER Original Filed April 23, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l V EN TOR.

g- 1947- .,1. A. Mac AeAN srrm. 2,425,257

' AUTOMATIC FOUL LINE KEEPER Original Filed April 23; 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

BY /Zd0dws Patented Aug. 5, 1947 AUTOMATIC FOUL LINE KEEPER,

James A. MacLagamForest Park, and Thaddeus A. Walsh, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Pioneer Trust & Savings Bank of Chicago, as trustee.

Original application April 23, 1941, Serial No. 389,976. Divided and this application August 25, 1945, Serial No. 612,611. In Canada Decemher 23, 1940 14 Claims. 2

The present invention relates generally to signaling devices and more particularly to foul detecting means for games and recreational contest, such as bowling, where a heavy composition ball or dielectric sphere is delivered acrossa foul line over which the player may not pass according to specified rules of the game.

The present invention is a divisional application of our application, Serial No. 389,976, filed April 23,1941 for an Automatic foul line keeper, which application in turn is a continuation-inpart of application Serial No. 293,022, filed September 1, 1939.

By way of example, the present invention is illustrated as an automatic bowling foul line keeper to indicate the commission of a foul whenever a player throwing a ball down the alley permits some part of his body, such as his foot, to move across the foul line in a way violating the rules of the game, which rules read to the eiiect that a foul is committed when the bowler permits any part of his foot, hand or arm to rest on. over, or extend beyond the foul line while any portion of that particular foot, hand or arm is in contact with the alley or the runway in front of the foul line.

In bowling, the main object of the game is to throw the ball with an underhand swing down an alley and so direct the ball that it will hit selected pins standing upon the opposite end of the alley. In doing this, although some players have peculiar individual ways of delivering the ball, practically without exception all players start Well behind the foul line and as they swing the ball they take several steps forward to help impart to the ball the proper momentum. After these steps are taken, the player must come to a full stop before reaching the foul line so that in no way does the player contact the alley at or beyond the foul line in a way violating the rules.

In order to penalize a player for fouling, a referee is conventionally placed at the side of the alleys where he has a clear view of all foul lines in the league. Then, whenever, in his judgment, a player touches or unlawfully crosses a foul line, a signal, such as a bell, centrally located, is rung and a foul light manually and selectively turned on over the alley where the foul is deemed to have been committed. Arguments regarding the referee's exercise of proper Judgment are minimized by seldom being questioned. However, many inequities are committed which arise from the human inability of the referee to watch a large number of alleys at the same time 2 and detect every foul and make correct decisions instantly.

For instance, in view of the fact that the reieree has to be located at an elevated position the referee is looking downwardly upon those alleys which are close to his station, and somewhat horizontally at the alleys remote from his station. Now and then the hand of a player, an elbow, shoulder or head extends over the foul line without violating the rules, Also, sometimes in catching body-balance a player's foot or knee swings out over the foul line without unlawfully contacting the alley. The viewing angle at which these acts are noted by the referee is a source of error, such acts conveying different impressions when viewed vertically, as distinguished from horizontally.

It is one of the purposes of the present invention to eliminate this source of error and insure the detection of any and all unlawful acts committed upon each and every alley without registering fouls for acts permitted by the rules.

Moreover. many times players in practicing for tournaments desire to bowl under tourna-' ment conditions. Heretoiore, this has been impossible without hiring a foul keeper at an additlonal expense to act as referee for one or a pair of alleys. This is seldom, if ever, done. Moreover, where several players wish to restrict each other against fouling to prevent arguments, the problem of detecting fouls properly without controversy has been unsolved. It is a purpose of the present invention to enable players at any time and at their option to bowl under tournament conditions. As a corollary to this advantage, the management may impose tournament conditions at any time it may choose to do so in order to detect alley abuse and penalize those players who are found to be fouling repeatedly.

Automatic foul line keepers have been experimented with heretofore but generally speaking they have been inadequate to take care of all contingencies that arise where the commission oi a foul is subject to controversy. A player falling across th foul line, or stepping across the foul line, or touching the alley beyond the foul line with his hand, commits an obvious foul. This is detectable by the team captains or any player watching the game. In other cases, however, as where the player jerks his foot back quickly from a fouling position, an automatic foul line keeper is useless unless it is infallible with regard to all contingencies that arise where commission of fouls are other than obvious, We say useless,

since in refereeing, poor judgment of a human referee is better than a mechanical keeper which is inadequate or subject to failure.

Some of the prior devices experimented with signaled the foul when the ball passed over the foul line after being delivered in certain ways peculiar to some players. In other devices a system of trips were provided to permit the passage of the ball before the system would detect a foul. In these instances. certain ball deliveries failed to trip the system and a foul could be committed without detection.

Another type of bowling foul line keeper experimented with is one dependent upon variations in speeds. Such, however, has had the difficulty that it fails in its reactance either with a slow ball bowler or a fast footed bowler. Either the detector registers a slow ball as a foul when set to catch a fast foot foul or fails to catch a fast foot foul when set to avoid actuation by a slow ball.

One of our own early automatic foul keepers included the use of a photo-electric cell located several feet down the alley beyond the foul line where the light beam serves as a trip beam and was located high enough to catch the top of a properly delivered ball and the bottom of a ball lofted to a height extreme enough to prevent any accurate control of the ball. This beam controlled a time relay. A second photo-electric cell controlling a second relay was located at the foul line. This particular construction is covered in the parent application.

The two relays operate in series, and with certain improvements discovered subsequent to our original experiments, the keeper has been sufliciently improved to render it thoroughly effective under all bowling conditions. See our application Serial No. 448,468. Certain advantages and improvements discovered with our early devices have been incorporated in the present invention.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a foolproof automatic foul line keeper which embodies certain novel results and subcombinations of parts as shown and claimed herein, including those originated in our early developments, and those pertaining to the successful operation of the present invention and the several embodiments illustrated, described and claimed herein.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic foul line keeper which is not affected by or responsive to th movement of the ball, especially at the foul line, during the play of the game, yet is instantly responsive to a foul committed at the foul line or within a reasonable distance beyond the foul line.

Another object of the invention is to detect all fouls committed within four or five inches of the foul line regardless of how they are committed or the manner in which the ball is thrown.

It is also the intention of the present invention to provide improved and pleasing foul signals for each pair of alleys distinguishable from one another so that as a matter of temporarily assumed habit, a player is not disturbed by a signaled foul on an adjoining pair of alleys but soon learns the sound of the signal on his own alley and ignores all others.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic foul line keeper that may be installed on conventional alleys as an integral part thereof without changing the alley, its appearance and its finish beyond the foul line so that playersusing various landmarks to 4 assist them in directing the ball, as in spot" bowling. are not confused and need not have a feeling of unfamiliarity with alleys upon which they are accustomed to bowl.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic bowling foul line keeper which to the extent that alleys have to be changed in appearance beyond the foul line, the alleys will be uniform, which, after the player has famlliarized himself with one alley, causes no feeling of unfamiliarity in alleys equipped in a like manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide a distinct marking for alleys equipped with an automatic bowling foul line keeper of the nature described.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic foul line keeper which can be easily tested at any time by team captains to determine whether or not the foul keeper is in operation and in proper adjustment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved foul line keeper which is simple in construction, easy to install and maintain, either as original equipment or as equipment added after the alley is installed.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved electrical control means for distinguishing between the relative capacity of inductive bodies or between the capacity of an inductive body and a dielectric body.

These being among the objects of the invention, other and further objects will become apparent from the drawings herein, the description relating thereto and the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bowling alley shown in segments as equipped with one form of the invention, the principal features of which are shown diagrammatically;

Figs. 2 and 3 are similar to Fig. 1 showing other embodiments of the invention diagrammatically;

Fig. 4 illustrates how the foul signals may be arranged for each pair of alleys;

Fig. 5 illustrates cross-sectionally the construction of such a foul line as that shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a showing of a foul line which is colored dark red and is preferably made of a hard rubber composition capable of conducting electricity.

Referring now to the drawings in further detail, the foul lines on the several alleys illustrated are indicated by the numeral [0 except in Figs. 1, 5 and 6 where a suflix is used, as will be described for that particular foul line construction. In the figures where the foul line I0 is the conventional foul line, it comprises either a painted black line or an ebony strip about one-half inch wide on the alley as disposed between the smooth unvarnished runway H and the finished and highly polished portion l2 over which the ball, such as the ball indicated in broken lines l3, passes to reach the pins that are set upon spots H5 at the far end of the alley.

The type of foul line used with most alleys is an ebony strip embedded in the alley. Throughout the several views it is preferred that an embedded type of foul line be employed with the present invention.

As illustrated in the several views, we prefer to use a photo-electric arrangement for detecting infractions of rules of play at the foul line. For this purpose a source of light is is provided at one side of the alley I l and a beam ll therefrom I 5 is directed across the alley above the foul line l and against a photo-electric cell 2|. 1

Referring to Fig. 2 a capacity-responsive relay 85 isemployed with the antenna 66 located in a knife slot groove 61 cut in the runway II from four to six inches in front of the foul line ID. The capacity-responsive relay 85 is one form of several electrical discharge devices available for this purpose and as shown in Fig. 2 comprises practically the circuit illustrated in Draper Patent No. 2,094,351, issued September 28, 1937, reference to which is hereby made with the description therein incorporated here.

Briefly, the capacity responsive relay 65 comprises an electrical discharge device 10 having an anode II and a cathode 12 and a control electrode 13. The electrical discharge device 10 is shown as a tube and is energized from a suitable source of power 14 through a transformer I to energize relay l6. Capacitors 11 and 18 are employed to tune the system and the relay 16 is de-energized to close the switch BIJ thereof when the capacity in the input circuit is increased above the low capacity induced by a dielectric article, such as a bowling ball.

Theconstants of the circuit are so adjusted that it is normally in oscillatory condition and the addition of capacity such as that in a human body above the capacity of a bowling ball is sufllcient to suppress the oscillations of the system to de-energize the relay 15 and close the switch 80. Once the various ambient conditions of any group of bowling alleys are determined we prefer to eliminate the variable capacity 8| and rely upon the resistor 82 to provide the proper magnitude. In this case the resistor may be made variable if, in some installations, the ambient capacities are not within the range determined upon for standardizing the circuits shown.

The switch 80 is connected in series with the switch of the relay 83. The relay 83 in turn is energized from an extra secondary coil 19 upon the transformer T5 through the circuit 85 as controlled by the photo-electric relay 84 which is energized by the photo-electric tube when light strikes it and whose switch 89 closes when the light beam is interrupted. In this way, when the relays I8 and 83 are closed, a relay 86 similar to the relay 83, already described, is energized to sound the signal 38 and turn on the foul light 39.

With this particular arrangement shown in Fig. 2 the photo-electric detector upon the foul line operates instantly each time an object passes through the beam l1 including the ball, but it is only when capacitance greater than the capacitance of the ball is impressed upon the antenna 86 to close the switch 80 that any object interrupting the beam I! will cause the foul signal to be sounded. Thus, until a player is dangerously close to the foul line, the foul line keeper may be said to be out of operation. Then, when a player's foot approaches the antenna or slides over the top thereof the foul line keeper is brought into full operation to detect the slightest infraction of the rules at the foul line.

The installation of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2 and others is easily made. The wide boards between the alleys at the end of the rail 29 and gutters 30 are removed to receive the major portion of the parts of the circuit below the floor level with only that portion containing the light l8 and the photo-electric cell 2| extending above the floor as protected by a rugged cap or shield (not shown). In replacing the floor a small trap door may be provided to provide access to make any adjustments of the foul line keeper that may be required from time to time.

The antenna 66, as has already been indicated, is laid in a knife slot 61 cut in the maple boards of the runway II. This out can be made with a very fine saw, such as a finishing cross-cut saw, which may be either hand powered or motor driven. In making the installation we prefer to use the motor driven circular saw that will cut to the approximate depth of three eighths of an inch, the antenna is then laid in this groove and shellacked to insulate and hold the antenna in place. The groove may be entirely filled with shellac or filler and polished off or it may be left open, in which case the dust and other foreign bodies will gradually fill the cut. In event it ever becomes necessary to remove the antenna the dust can be swept out, and the antenna wire stripped from its place where it is held by the thin coating of shellac.

The spacing of the antenna 66 from the beam ll makes it also possible, with this construction, to set the electrical discharge apparatus to react at any capacity induction including the ball if the ball is not dielectric, provided the spacing is such that the ball will pass out of the inducting region before it enters the beam. With such an arrangement the electrical discharge apparatus may be set to respond to only the capacities present in its immediate vicinity and directly above it, in which case it will be appreciated that the ball may pass over and through both systems without tripping them, but a foot of a player approaching the foul line would operate the electrical discharge apparatus 85 so that if a players foot advances further and into the beam in a manner committing a foul, the foul signal would be put into operation immediately. For this arrangement, the spacing of the antenna from the foul beam may be as much as eight inches.

Referring now to Fig. 3, an antenna 66 is installed in a manner similar to that employed in Fig. 2, but is located right at the leading edge of the foul line I.

In this particular embodiment the capacity balance of the discharge system 65 is set to clear the ball without response thereto but to be immediately responsive to any capacitance impressed upon the antenna 66 above that of the ball, namely, to be responsive to the body capacitance of a player whose foot approaches the foul line. This particular arrangement has certain advantages in permitting women who stand close to the foul line, without a preliminary run, to bowl under tournament conditions, if. at any time, they desire to do so. Furthermore, the knife slot in which the antenna is disposed is practically invisible and can be touched up by black paint along the ebony strip employed in providing the foul line.

The control circuits differ somewhat from those shown in Fig. 2. In Fig, 3 the switch of the relay I6 that is controlled by the electric discharge device 65 is in series with the switch 89 of the photo-electric relay 84 so that the switch 89 thereof never closes on a power carrying circuit unless the player comes close enough to the foul line to trip the switch 80 of the relay 16 and then the switch 89 only closes when a foul is committed.

This is a control interlock which saves the life of the switch 89 which is a delicate one as compared with relays capable of carrying a much heavier electrical load.

In Fig. 3 a heavier current can be carried momentarlly without deleterious results since the switch 88 is protected against continuous use. Briefly, a current is not carried by the switch 88 each time the ball is thrown, but closes only when a foul is committed, which, under normal conditions of tournament, is very seldom.

In installing the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 we prefer to have the switches 88 and 89 connected in series with the internal resistance of the load of the chime 38 and light 38 and shorted by switch 88 of the relay 88 having the time delay break. In this way when the relay 86 closes, the switches 89 and 88 break upon the dead circuit without arcing, thereby increasing their longevity. The current generated in the secondary coil I9 of the transformer I5 in this instance, is 32 volts and resistances (not shown) may be employed as a safety factor to limit the peak carry of the circuit 85 to that required to operate the signal 38 and light 38. Moreover, the use of the magnetic single stroke gong 38 as distinguished from an interrupter bell makes it possible to connect the light 38 in series therewith to further reduce the load to the current necessary to light the light or to energize either the gong 38 or the relay 86 whichever has the least internal resistance.

It will be appreciated that the systems of circuits shown in Figs. 2 and 3 can be used interchangeably, or in other words, the spacing of the antenna in front of the foul line I8 is immaterial within the showings in Figs. 2 and 3 if the related circuits are adjusted correspondingly.

In the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 the height of the beam [1 preferably does not extend over three inches above the alley, two inches being adequate for most purposes. This takes care of those instances where the bowlers shoe has an upturned toe which would not contact the alley at the foul line even though it might extend over the foul line a slight distance. Any movement of the foot above the two or three inches, as the case would he. would be in the same category as a hand swung outwardly across the foul line after the delivery of the ball. The height of the beam would assure the detection of any foot movement which, under the rules of the game, as applied at the present time, would be considered to be a foul.

In event the rules of the game are changed or construed differently, the beam is capable of being widened or narrowed accordingly within three inches, a range wide enough for all practical purposes since it is highly impractical that the beam takes care of any movement across the foul line above three inches. Very often a player's hand will come that close to the alley without being deemed to have committed a technical foul.

Of course it is possible for the player to straddle the foul line and the beam, but in view of the fact' that the position would have to be attained by the player falling forward upon his hands or face, such a foul would be obvious to the team captains, it being one of the objects of the present invention to provide an automatic foul line keeper to take care of every situation where there might otherwise be a controversy and to leave the detection of an obvious foul, which is not open to question, to the team captains.

Referring toFig. 1 a preferred embodiment of the system illustrated in Fig. 3 is set forth wherein the foul line I8 comprises a strip I Ila (Fig, 6) of hard rubber composition having electric current conductive properties, which strip may be colored in any distinctive color, preferably red, that will identify the alley to one observing it as an alley equipped with an automatic bowling foul line keeper. The lead 88a is indicated in F18. 6 and can be connected to circuit 85, shown in Figs. 2 and 3; however, a modified circuit is illustrated in Fig. 1 as will now be described.

In Fig. 1 the circuit comprises a photo-electric cell 2| properly connected to two amplifiers I82 and I83 in such a manner that the relay I04 is caused to operate when the light falling on the photo-electric cell is decreased or increased. The circuit controlled by the photo-electric cell 2| is one where a conventional power line 23, as controlled by a line switch 24, supplies power through a primary coil 25 of a transformer 26 to adapt A. C, current for photo cell operation in a two stage resistance coupled amplifier. The circuit also contains a unit consisting of the antenna lfla arranged with thetube I05 and the tuned circuit I06 so that any change of capacity between the antenna Illa and the ground will cause a change in the plate circuit of the tube I05 in such a manner that the tube I05 and its associated relay I81 will function. These independent amplifying circuits terminate in relay switches I88 and I88 and are supplied with power from a common power supply III]. In order that these circuits may be more completely independent one from the other, without the performance of one biasing the performance of the other, decoupling circuits II I and I I2 have been added so that the action of one will not interfere with the action of the other.

In Fig. 5 a conventional .strip, such as an ebony strip, is shown as grooved at to receive a strip of metal 9| therein which serves as an antenna connected to the circuit 65 by a lead-in similar to that indicated by the numeral 650.

These embodiments can be arranged to actuate a signal light 39 and a single tone signal 38 which, as has already been mentioned in the preliminary remarks, is preferably used for each pair of alleys with the tone or chime of each signaldifierent in pitch or quality from all the others in the house. In providing this, we prefer, as shown in Fig, 4, to connect one lead of each light with the respective foul keepers and connect the other leads of the lights with one lead of the tone signal and the other lead of the tone signal to the source of electricity. In this wa the tone signal sounds for either light without disturbing the other light. It is seldom that adjoining players deliver the ball at the same time so one signal is enough for both alleys and if both foul, the present invention will signal both fouls properly and separately.

Thus, an automatic bowling foul line keeper is provided which is not only pleasing in appearance but which reacts correctly and instantly to any infraction of rules upon the facts of which there might otherwise be a. controversy arising from perception or judgment, and players or the management may impose foul detection conditions any time, at will.

Consequently, although certain embodiments oi the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that from the principles and suggestions contained herein various other and further changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention the scop of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an automatic bowling foul line keeper for a bowling alley having a-foul line, means for proiecting a beam of light across the alley at the foul line, photo-electric means responsive to the beam of light operating an electric signal circuit, and capacity-responsive relay means responsive to inductive bodies upon the alle for controlling the operation of said photo-electric means.

2. An automatic foul line keeper for game de-' vices having a foul line and an areaway for foot movement of a player in front of the foul line, means responding to movement of an object across the foul line a distance less than three inches above it, a circuit controlled by said means, means on the areaway side of the foul line including an antennae and reactive in relation to the proximity of a player's foot within six inches of the foul line, a circuit controlled by said last means, and a signal, said signal being actuated by said circuits operating cooperatively.

'3. In an automatic foul line keeper, a signal, an electron discharge device responsive to infractions of the rules of play at the foul line including a relay, electron discharge device responsive to the presence of human bodies near the foul line including a relay whose switch is in series with the switch of the first relay, and relay means in series with said switches having a switch which when closed shorts said first switches and energizes said signal.

4- In an automatic foul line keeper for'bowling alleys having a foul line and a runway for players,

means for detecting movements of objects acrossv the foul line, and means disposed across the runway below the surface thereof for detecting the presence-of persons present upon the runway a distance less than six inches from the foul line, and alarm means actuated by said detecting means cooperatively whenever they are actuated simultaneously.

5. In an automatic bowling foul line keeper, light sensitive means responsive to objects passing less than three inches above the foul line,

electron discharge means located at said foul line for detectingsolely the presence of a human body proximate the foul line. and signal means energized by said detecting means whenever they are both actuated at the same time.

6. For use with a plurality of bowling alleys having foul lines, light sensitive means for detecting infractions of the rules of play at the foul lines separately, electron discharge means including an antennae for detecting the presence of a human body in front of the foul lines less than six inches from the foul lines separately, an audible signal means actuated by said detecting means whenever the detecting means on one of the alleys are actuated cooperatively and visual indicator means actuated in combination with the audible signal and identifying the alley upon which said detecting means are actuated simultaneously.

, 7. For use with a. bowling alley having a foul line, an automatic foul line keeper comprising means for projecting a beam of undulating energy across the alley at the foul line, means responsive to interference with said beam, capacity-responsive means having a responsiveness to a predetermined minimum of induction that is greater than the induction of a bowling ball. signal means identifying the alley with which itis associated and controlled by both of said responsive means cooperatively.

10 when they are actuated cooperatively.

9. In an automatic bowlingfoul linekeeper for a bowling alley having a runway for players defined by a foul line, means disposed at said foul line for detecting infractions of. the rules of play,

electron discharge means disposed upon the runway side of the foul line and selectively responsive to players as distinguished from a ball present'upon the runway for detecting solely the presence of a human body near the foul line, and signal means controlled by the joint operation of said detecting means and said electron discharge means.

10. An automatic bowling-foul line keeper for a bowling alley having a foul line, comprising an electron discharge device for detecting infractions of the rules of play at the foul line, capacityresponslve means selectively responsive to inductive bodies upon the alley, and signal means controlled by said electron discharge device and said means acting cooperatively.

11. An automatic foul line keeper for a game device having a foul line and a region provided for foot movement of a player in front of the foul line, a beam of undulating energy projected over the alley to detect the movement of an object above the foul line, means responsive to interference with said beam including a circuit, capacity means responsive to the presence of an object above said region and proximate the foul lineincluding acircuit, and means controlled by said circuits for actuating a signal.

12. In an automatic bowling foul line keeper for a bowling alley having a foul line, means for projecting a beam of light across the alley at the foul line, capacity responsive relay means responsive to inductive bodies upon the alley for operating an electric signal circuit, photo-electric means responsive to the beam of light for con-- trolling the operation of said capacity responsive relay means.

13. In an automatic bowlingfoul line keeper for a bowling alley having a foul line, means for projecting a beam of light across the foul line, photo-electric means responsive to the beam of light, capacity responsive relay means responsive to inductive bodies upon the alley and signal means operated by joint operation of said photoelectric means and said capacity responsive relay means.

14. In an automatic foul line keeper for bowling alleys having a runway for players. a foui line at the end of said runway made of a material having electrical conductive properties, means for detecting movement of objects across the foul.

line. and means connected to said foul line for detecting the presence of person present upon the runway a distance less than six inches from the foul line. and alarm means actuated by said detecting means when actuated cooperatively.

JAMES A. MACLAGAN.

' THADDEUS A. WALSH. 

